EVANSTON, Ill. - The secret is out.
Spencer Romine threw for a career-high 303 yards and a stingy defense held Northwestern to just eight first downs as Duke blasted Northwestern 44-10 on a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon.
Even a broken scoreboard in the south endzone of Ryan Field-which wistfully read Northwestern 3, Duke 0-couldn't conceal the damage done by the emerging Blue Devils, who won their first road game in three years.
"It's enough to bring tears to my eyes," coach Fred Goldsmith said. "I'm so happy. Our kids needed a win for their confidence."
Duke is 2-0 for the first time since 1994, when the Blue Devils finished 8-4 in Goldsmith's first season at the helm. They dominated the Wildcats in every way on Saturday, lighting up a young defense for 30 first downs and a school-record 100 offensive plays.
"You have to go back to '94 for the last time we played like this," Goldsmith said. "It's been that long. Spencer Romine really just picked them apart today."
Romine threw for a touchdown and ran for another, as Duke rolled up 575 yards to Northwestern's 205. Romine finished 20-for-37 passing and didn't throw an interception.
Richmond Flowers caught seven passes-all for first downs. With 124 yards receiving, he became the first Blue Devil to go over 100 in back-to-back contests since All-American Clarkston Hines pulled the feat in 1989.
"I'd be happy with a win and just one catch," an excited Flowers said afterward. "This is a big win for us. It represents the turning around of Duke and the gaining of respect."
The Blue Devils scored on four straight possessions in the second quarter, turning an early 7-3 lead into a 27-3 blowout at the half. Romine was red-hot, hitting on 9-of-11 passes in the quarter, including a 31-yard TD strike to tight end Mike Hart that capped a 94-yard scoring drive and stretched the lead to 20-3.
Northwestern appeared ready to mount a comeback when, on fourth-and-inches early in the third quarter, Damien Anderson took a toss sweep around left end for a 36-yard touchdown to make it 27-10.
But the Wildcats got no closer. Northwestern went three plays and out on its next possession, and Romine then drove Duke 49 yards to a first-and-goal at the Wildcats one-yard line.
The redshirt sophomore calmly sneaked around left end on the next play, icing the contest at 34-10.
"That was the key," Goldsmith said. "Once we answered their score, then I knew they were tired. If we hadn't answered and their offense had gotten it back with a chance to score again, it could have been a lot more interesting game."
The Blue Devils looked right at home on a blisteringly sunny day with unusually high temperatures for September in Evanston.
"The heat definitely worked to our advantage," Goldsmith said. "I talked to [NU coach] Gary Barnett, and they have not had one hot practice day yet. It was rougher on them than on us because we're used to it."
But Barnett made no excuses for his team's poor play.
"I give Duke all the credit," he said. "They kicked our butts. They assaulted the belly of our defense. They demoralized our team.
"They outplayed us in every aspect of the game."
The numbers back up Barnett's assessment. Duke ground out 272 yards rushing, spreading the carries between freshman B.J. Hill and veterans Letavious Wilks and Duane Epperson, who each returned from injury this week.
Wilks, who had only practiced once this fall before Monday, led the Blue Devils with 83 yards on 18 carries. Hill followed up his 100-yard debut last week with 59 yards, and Epperson carried 11 times for 37 yards and two scores.
"What can you say; you can't pass and run the ball like that without the offensive line working hard," Goldsmith said. "[Offensive coordinator] Les Koenning had a great gameplan and called a tremendous game."
Junior cornerback Lamar Grant effectively shut down Northwestern's big gun, holding All-America candidate D'Wayne Bates to just three catches.
The Wildcats' freshman quarterback, Gavin Hoffman, struggled from the start, overthrowing receivers and making bad decisions under pressure. He tossed an interception and fumbled a snap, and finished just 9-for-25 for 68 yards.
On the other side, Romine was nearly flawless. He exploited Northwestern's loose coverage with a handful of screen passes to Montgomery and seam routes to Flowers and Hart.
Duke is now 4-0 in games in which Romine has started, and finished.
"I told my roommate [Luke Roush] last night that I thought we were going to win," Romine said. "But I didn't think the score would be anything like that."
Romine started the long second quarter drive with a scramble out of his own endzone that saved a safety. B.J. Hill took over from there, carrying on seven of the next 10 plays to set up the Romine-to-Hart touchdown pass.
It was Hart's first career reception.
Things only got worse for the shell-shocked Wildcats. Duke forced a punt on the ensuing series, and Romine hit Hart and Montgomery on back-to-back deep passes to set up first-and-10 from the Northwestern 12. After two offside penalties, Epperson plunged in from two yards to make it 27-3 at the half.
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